Bedford School
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- Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School
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Overview
Bedford School has approximately 1,200 boys both day-boys and boarders between the ages of 7 and 18. It has a long and established history and prides itself today on both its academic excellence, and its extra-curricular strengths in music, drama, art and sport. A vast range of subjects are available including astronomy (on-site observatory and planetarium) and mandarin and the International Baccalaureate is taught alongside A-levels. It is famous for its alumni (known as Old Bedfordians) and the traditions it maintains.
History
BedfordSchoolfire.jpg
In 1979, the school suffered a devastating arson attack during the night, and the imposing main building was gutted by fire. The flames leapt to an astonishing 130ft high. The fire was fought throughout the night, into the early morning of Sunday 4th March, and when it had finally been beaten, the extent of the damage was revealed: Over 90% of the building had been destroyed by the blaze and 30 classrooms lost. Remarkably, almost all of the pupil-records were recovered, but the extensive collection of portraits, books and furniture were destroyed.
Bedford Traditions
Uniform
Bedford has a rich heritage of tradition. Weekday dress consists of a white shirt with or without a false-collar, black tie, grey trousers, blue jacket and black shoes. Sunday dress consists of a blue suit, a black waistcoat, black tie and a white shirt. Variations include a coloured waistcoat and brown shoes for monitors, sports blazer with for those in the top sports teams, house ties for those who have won "sports colours". During the summer months, a straw boater is permissible.
School Houses
There are seven school houses, six of which are senior houses, all six being linked to a school house: Sanderson's, in Rothsay Place (Ashburnham); Burnaby, in Burnaby Road (Bromham); Pemberley, in Pemberley Avenue (Crescent); Redburn, in Rothsay Gardens (Paulo-Pontine); Phillpotts, in Pemberley Avenue (St. Cuthbert's); and Talbot's, in De Parys Avenue (St. Peter's).
Songs
One of the most distinctive Bedford traditions is the singing of songs and inter-house singing competitions. In the vein of the Eton Boating Song, many were written by teachers in the latter half of the 19th Century. The official school song Domus Pater was written by Henry Le Mesurier in 1861.
Domus Pater Harperiae Honus Tuus sit ibcola; Tu porticus caelestibus Praesidiis circumsede.
Impubes usque tu manus Huc ventitantes respice; Et inter mundi Semitas Pedes securos dirige.
Infirma verbo pectora Rectoque cultu robora; Cibum caelestem porrige Et mala procul abige.
Ut omni mane gratiam Tuam precentur cum fide Et corde grato vesperi Laudes tuas concelebrent.
Deo Patri sit gloria Eiusque soli Filio, Sanctissimo cu Spiritu, Et nunnc et in perpetuum.
Bedford Societies
As with many boarding schools, Bedford has a large number of societies, most of which are run by the boys. They include:
- Babbage Society
- Biology Society
- Bridge Club
- Chess Club
- Canoe Club
- Film Society
- Debating Society
- Drama Society
- Duke of Edinburgh's Award
- Jewish Society
- Climbing / Mountaineering
- Photography Society
- Sub Aqua Society
There are many more. Indeed, every aspect of academic life has a society devoted to it.
Monitors and Options
Monitors are chosen from boys who are deemed to have the best qualities in leadership and achievement. They have the power to give lines and other such punishments to boys who misdemean. Today there are separate heads of boarding and school houses. On a school-wide level the best monitor is made "Head Boy" and a deputy is appointed to assist. Monitors wear coloured waist-coats and brown shoes. Options, like monitors, are divided in to school and house options and are like junior monitors. The number of options is currently confined to three dozen, and monitors, including the head of school, the deputy head and senior monitor to fifteen.
Sports
On the sports field, the school is able to field in great depth (up to 4 or 5 teams per age group in major sports (rugby, hockey, cricket) fixtures) and has a respectable career success. Incidentally, the school has produced many fine sportsmen, such as the young cricket star Alistair Cook, who captained the England U19 team in Bangladesh in 2004.
The Charles Piazzi Smyth Observatory and the Wolfson Planetarium
The Piazzi Smyth Observatory and Wolfson Planetarium were opened in May 2002 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Situated on the Bedford School estate, the facility is operated by the School’s Astronomer in conjunction with members of the Bedford Astronomical Society. The Observatory was named after an Old Bedfordian who went on to become the Astronomer Royal for Scotland. It features a specially made GRP dome and a computer controlled 12” telescope which gives stunning views of the Moon, Planets and Deep Sky Objects. This telescope also has a hydrogen alpha filter which enables you to see the magnetic plasma flow around the Sun. The adjacent Planetarium was named after the Wolfson Foundation.
External links
- Charles Piazzi Smyth Observatory (http://www.bedfordschool.org.uk/template.asp?page=240)
- Charles Piazzi Smyth Bio (http://www.pinetreeweb.com/bp-piazzi-smyth.htm)
Music
Bedford School has a rich tradition of music and one of the largest school Music Departments in the UK.
Every year, there is a full and active programme of music concerts culminating in a series of summer concerts at the end of the academic year. There are a number of senior music groups including the School First (Symphony) Orchestra, School Band, Choral Society, Chapel Choir and a large number of chamber groups. In addition, there is a Second Orchestra, a Chamber Orchestra, Dance Band and Jazz and Rock Groups. There is a Composer-in-Residence at the School, called the Eileen Norris Fellow.
During the war in 1941 the BBC Symphony and Theatre Orchestras made the school their home, from where a large number of broadcasts were made, under the batons of Adrian Boult, Clarence Raybould and Stanford Robinson.
Prominent Old Bedfordian Musicians
- Peter Freyhan (OB 50-57); principal cellist B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra (Retd.)
- Ian Fox (OB 56-64); Director of Music of The King’s School, Gloucester (Retd.)
- Richard Kerr (OB 58-62); songwriter, for Elkie Brookes, Dionne Warwick, Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams.
- Michael Freyhan (OB 51-58); pianist and harpsichordist.
- Alisdair MacRae Birch (http://www.alisdair.com/) (OB 67-76); jazz guitarist, bassist and arranger
- Alec Dankworth (http://www.alecdankworth.com/) (OB 68-77); jazz bassist
- Andrew Manze (http://www.englishconcert.co.uk/biogam.htm) (OB 75-82); violin soloist and Musical Director of The English Concert
- Gavin Osborn (OB 87-94); flautist and composer
- Howard Jacobs (OB 87-92); clarinetist and saxophonist
- Ben Bottone (OB 89-96); trumpeter.
- Philip Stopford (OB 90-95); Director of Music at Belfast Cathedral.
- Christopher Ridley (OB 90-97); percussionist
- Jim Bennett (OB 92-01); trumpeter
- Tom King (OB 93-98); counter-tenor
- Matthew Venner (OB 96-01); counter-tenor
External links
- Bedford School Music Department (http://www.bedfordschool.org.uk/template.asp?page=375)
- BBC in Bedford (http://www.users.bigpond.com/jcday/dayspast/bbcbedford.html)
Old Bedfordians
Prominent Old Bedfordians include:
- James Dennis (1815–1861), palaeontologist and natural historian
- Henry Hawkins, Baron Brampton (1817–1907), barrister and Judge of the High Court of Justice, 1876–1898
- Henry Corbet (1820–1878), agricultural writer and editor
- James Howard (1821–1889), agriculturalist and agricultural implement manufacturer
- Sir Wyndham Dunstan (1861–1949), chemist and Director, Imperial Institute, 1903–1924
- John Platts (1830–1904), Indian and Persian language expert
- Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), occultist
- Hubert Burge (1862–1925), Headmaster of Winchester College, 1901–1910, Bishop of Southwark, 1910–1919, and Bishop of Oxford, 1919–1925
- General Sir Walter Braithwaite (1865–1945), Adjutant-General to the Forces, 1927–1931
- Sir Walter Langdon-Brown (1870–1946), Regius Professor of Physic, University of Cambridge, 1932–1935
- H. H. Munro (Saki) (1870–1916), short story writer
- Field Marshal Sir Cyril Deverell (1874–1947), Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1936–1937
- Sir Lynden Macassey (1876–1963), engineer and barrister
- Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker (1877–1930), Director-General of Civil Aviation, 1922–1930, and victim of R101 disaster
- Major-General Sir Hubert Huddleston (1880–1950), Commandant, Sudan Defence Force and General Officer Commanding Sudan, 1925–1930, and Governor-General of the Sudan, 1940–1947
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett (1882–1945), Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Iraq, 1932–1935, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Royal Air Force Training Command, 1936–1939, and Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Australian Air Force, 1939–1942
- Gilbert Campion, Baron Campion (1882–1958), Clerk of the House of Commons, 1937–1948
- Sir Bernard Reilly (1882–1966), Resident/Chief Commissioner/Governor of Aden, 1931–1940
- Charles Meek (1885–1965), anthropologist
- Marshal of the RAF Cyril Newall, 1st Baron Newall (1886–1963), Air Member for Supply and Organisation, 1935–1937, Chief of the Air Staff, 1937–1940, and Governor-General of New Zealand, 1940–1946
- Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker (1887–1964), soldier and weapons designer
- Admiral Sir Robert Burnett (1887–1959), Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic, 1944–1946, and Flag Officer Plymouth, 1946–1950
- William Rowan (1891–1957), ornithologist
- Air Vice-Marshal Sir Paul Maltby (1892–1971), Air Officer Commanding Java, 1942, and Black Rod, 1946–1962
- John Dudley North (1893–1968), aircraft designer
- General Sir Sidney Kirkman (1895–1982), General Officer Commanding, 50th Northumbrian Division, 1942–1944, and XIII Corps, 1944–1945, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1945–1947, and Quartermaster-General to the Forces, 1947–1950
- Sir Percivale Liesching (1895–1973), Permanent Under-Secretary, Ministry of Food, 1946–1948, Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1949–1955, and High Commissioner in South Africa, 1955–1958
- Sir Karl Parker (1895–1992), art historian and Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, 1945–1962
- Harold Abrahams (1899–1978), sprinter, long jumper, barrister and civil servant
- Jack Beresford (1899–1977), oarsman and coach
- J. D. Bernal (1901–1971), physicist
- Vice-Admiral John Hughes-Hallett (1901–1972), naval officer, amphibious warfare expert and politician
- Sir Bob Dixon (1904–1965), Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, 1943–1948, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1954–1960, and Ambassador to France, 1960–1965
- Marshal of the RAF Sir Thomas Pike (1906–1983), Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, 1953–1956, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Fighter Command, 1956–1959, Chief of the Air Staff, 1960–1964, and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, 1964–1967
- Charles Dent (1911–1976), physician and biochemist
- Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Le Fanu (1913–1970), Director-General, Naval Weapons, 1958–1960, Controller of the Navy, 1961–1965, Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, 1965–1968, and First Sea Lord, 1968–1970
- Joseph Godber, Baron Godber of Willington (1914–1980), Minister of Labour, 1963–1964, and Secretary of State for Agriculture, 1972–1974
- Joe Chamberlin (1919–1978), architect and town planner
- Frank Adams (1930–1989), Fielden Professor of Mathematics, University of Manchester, 1964–1970, and Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry, University of Cambridge, 1970–1989
- Michael De-la-Noy (1934–2002), author, journalist, gay-rights activist.
References
External links
- Bedford School official website (http://www.bedfordschool.org.uk)
- Bedford School during the 1940s (http://www.users.bigpond.com/jcday/dayspast/bedfordschool1940s.html)
- Bedford School on Travelling Days (http://colinday.freewebspace.com/bedford/BedfordSchool.html)